I play lots of tennis if im not able to ride, and my arms are used to lots of pressure and stress. I've only experienced this when I was flying down a rock garden, but after that I haven't felt any arm pump while riding. I'm not sure if my arms have gotten used to vigorous stress from just playing tennis...it's prolly cuz I don't shred hard enough!
I was riding a downhill park earlier today on my short suspension hardtail and I was sessioning a very rocky enduro track and at the bottom I had to bend my fingers out manually
I'm surprised no one is talking about grips. The larger the diameter the grip, the more forearm strength is needed to maintain the same grip pressure. Weight lifters have been using grip sleeves to increase the forearm workout with dumbbells. I've seen a few people make the mistake of buying the thickest grips and gloves with thick padding thinking it will help reduce strain, but it has the opposite effect
My problem wasn't cramping but numbness, at first a little in the fingers but on longer rides my whole hand could go completely numb really fast, sometimes making it very difficult to apply brakes... Turned out to be the brake angle putting strain on my wrist and cutting off circulation. Changing the angle worked great for downhill but is kind of uncomfortable the rest of the time... haven't yet come up with a more convenient solution than having to set it for downhill every time, though Anyway point being that angle is really important! I'm going to help my beginner friend get hers set up correctly before we start doing anything tricky 👍
@@RavenRedwood try bars with more backsweep to reduce the pressure on your wrists. SQlab has bars with 12 and 16 degrees of backsweep. I run their 12 degree bar
Going to the rock climbing gym cured me of arm pump. I've only been doing it for around a month but I can bomb down chundery stuff faster than ever and my hands will be fine.
Got in to kettlebell marathoning/half marathoning last off season. That combined with tinkering with cockpit setup made it go away. Popeye forearms now though 😅
Never even knew this was a thing until recently, from RU-vid, in fact. I'm guessing that most people that suffer from this have jobs that are not very physically demanding.
Exactly! I always used my hands. Go to the gym as much as I can (free weights, not machines) I remember climbing trees every day when I was a kid, then it was bicycles, then racing BMX and jumping (80's), then racing MTB's around '92, then racing road bikes, then MTB's again on an Enduro HT Never had arm pump.
I agree, I work in the high ropes industrial (challenge course, zipline course, etc...) and if anything 25 years in the industrial has toasted my hands and arms!
"Captains Of Crush" grip strengtheners... Don't need to go all Arnie on the sizes a "0.5" (120lbs) and "1.0" (140lbs) is more than enough for me though you may need to start with Guide, Sport or Trainer (60,80,100 lbs)...not that cheap but best quality...oh and a set of "Ripper Bands" so you are working the opposing muscles too (think climbers use them a lot)
Last year in Sölden I got armpump for the first time and it was so horrible that I had to take a day off. I wasn‘t sure what to do with the suspension because I think most came from brake ripples. If I made it softer it would compress during braking and be even harsher on the brake ripples.
@@rsmithuk then maybe it's because you curl/cramp your toes? Is just an assumption but could be the case. Often when it comes to cramps it because of you tightening your muscles when oyu don't need to. So maybe it's because your feet aren't relaxed
Got to be honest I can’t ever remember suffering from arm pump, though I train for powerlifting. My grip has to be strong. Or try curling kettlebells instead of dumbbells, that really sorts the men from the boys.
I don't usually suffer for arm pump but I think I experience the same thing in my quads, the leg that is back. Once I stop and shake it out some or rest a minute I am good to go, but this is not always a options on some trails. So I have been working on my breathing and when I can switch out which leg is in the back. Off the bike training I am doing weighed squats. Is there any thing else you would suggest for the legs pump issues?
i do a lot of bouldering, and i never get "arm pump" but on long downhill days i always get to the point where my hands/fingers hurt so bad, that i can´t hold on to my handlebars anymore real fun killer :/
Like to choume thes tecnis in new #GMBN a so sessions to. Rich the Payne trails to How to tackele to arm thes pumtracks for the #GlobalNuntainBikeNetwork good to recording in the game bessnes confident 🗣️🤟🏻yyaaSicke Saluds of Chile 🇨🇱 enjoy video
